For my first ever field trip here in Cambodia I joined Grade 2 and 3 for a visit to the zoo. About 40 children and 8 adults squeezed into a van and ute, kind of like circus clowns, for our 1 hour drive to the province where the zoo is. Thankfully I got a seat behind the driver in the ute cabin – oh how I love AC.
The zoo is different to what might expected. The first section is a walk through area with animals in different cages or roaming free within the closed grounds. There were so many monkeys. Many of them had new young ones so the carry them around on display. Not being a huge animal fan I just quietly observed as the children joyously explored the grounds at fast speeds (hmm just like going to the zoo with Australian children).
We jumped back into our two vehicles and explored the animals around the grounds. By the end of the day I was getting better at getting in and out of the ute. The animals are quite vicious and can get rather interesting to see. We got to see bears fighting and dancing, monkeys jumping around making a racket and going crazy (one tried to grab at a teacher’s arm which made him jump a mile) snakes sleeping while chickens live clucking away inside their day waiting until the unfateful day, feed monkeys and elephants and watch elephants doing circus tricks and squirting water at the students and one rather unlucky teacher.
Many of the animals within the zoo were found in traps, in need of medical assistance, from the circus or just being a nuisance to a village. The highlight of the day for me would have to be seeing the young elephant with the prosthetic front left foot. He was rather active and enjoyed entertaining the children along with the two other elephants.
We all got back to school rather exhausted (yet thankful to be back because the van was having problems throughout the day) and happy. It is so wonderful to take these kids out and do something fun and educational for them. This is not something they get to do everyday so they will really treasure this memory – I think I will too.
